Best of the Best
by Elveatas
Summary: There is no one Morgana loves more than her brother Arthur and no one she is more fiercely protective over. A prat he might be, and an idiot on top of that, but he stil deserves the best of the best. And Merlin, Morgana's boss, is the best of the best.


**AN: Originally written for Merlin Holidays 2015 for Kiromenanz on A=3. Can therefore alos be found on AO3 under the same name.**

 **Beta'd by the ever so wonderful Hart_d**

* * *

Morgana's favourite place is a little café near her office building, which not only provides the most delicious cake she's ever tasted, it also serves the best coffee she's ever tried. Merlin – head of the Camelot department of Avalon Inc. and her boss – showed it to her on one of her first days working for him and it's played a big part in slightly increasing her waistline ever since.

It's also a little bit magical.

The interior is kept in crimson, dark brown, and green colours that somehow manage to make the atmosphere calm and cosy, instead of dark and gloomy, thanks to the magical lamps floating in the air giving off a warm light. There's relaxing music coming from nowhere in particular, always the right tune for whatever mood the listener is in. Which means that some days Morgana will be hearing jazz while Merlin will hear classical music, and other days it will be completely different genres, yet always something that fights off the long stressful workdays and settles pleasantly in Morgana's body. The staff is nice and always smiling, taking her order with laughter, and they wave about with magic and spells to concoct the perfect coffee that always tastes exactly like Morgana needs it to, whether it be a strong, black coffee, or a light, sugary frappuccino.

All in all, it's perfect, and really, it's inevitable that she brings Arthur one day. He might not possess magic – he might still be a bit wary of it, in fact – but she wants to show him as much of her new world as she can, and Arthur has always appreciated a good cup of coffee.

It just so happens that the day she brings Arthur to the café is one of those days when Merlin is also there.

As predicted, Arthur is quite charmed by the café even if he's a bit cautious at the lights floating around and the coffee making itself, but he takes it all fairly well, and before Morgana knows it they've already consumed their first cups of coffee when Arthur suggests they get refills.

"And some cake!" Morgana says before she can stop herself.

Arthur arches an eyebrow, but pointedly doesn't mention all the times Morgana has complained about eating too much cake and what it does to her weight. He knows how to pick his battles, she supposes, as she watches him go up to the counter to place their orders.

The door into the café jingles shortly after that, and Morgana's attention is naturally drawn to the sound and the strong magical – and frankly quite familiar – presence that follows. Merlin spots her quickly enough and a broad, delighted grin breaks out over his handsome face. He raises a hand to wave at her as he walks further into the café, likely intending to drop by her table before ordering his usual drink. She returns it with a smile of her own

A smile that stiffens in shock when Merlin, being the absentminded klutz that he is, doesn't notice Arthur by the counter just turning around, his hands full of coffee and cake, and trips over Arthur's feet. And Arthur, ever the knight in shining armour and with reflexes like one, quickly drops the cake and coffee and catches a flailing Merlin, dips him for the one extended moment it takes for them both to regain their balance, and tips him back on his feet.

"Careful there," Morgana can hear Arthur say, as he makes sure Merlin is steady again and won't fall anytime soon.

"Whoops," Merlin says, flushed from embarrassment yet still smiling as he rubs his quickly reddening neck. "Didn't see where I was going. I'm sorry about that."

"No worries," Arthur says, and really, it's a big testament to how he's changed from when they were children that he just brushes it off like that. Or maybe it's just Merlin's dazzling smile that's having the effect. "See?" Arthur continues as he plucks the coffee and the plate of cake from the air where it's helpfully been hanging since he dropped it. "No harm done. My sister's told me this place has an anti-spilling spell placed upon it."

"I know." Merlin says and smiles that one smile that makes his cheek dimple and every female at the office sigh like lovestruck schoolgirls. It doesn't help that his face is still red with embarrassment. "But thank you for catching me, nonetheless."

"As I said, don't worry about it."

"Okay, I won't then," Merlin says, but doesn't move.

Neither does Arthur, who seems unable to do anything but smile back. Instead he's just standing there, hands full of coffee and cake, apparently caught up in Merlin's personal sphere that has a tendency to catch people unaware.

"So… Uhm…" Merlin says after a few silent, painfully awkward-to-look-at moments.

Arthur shakes his head as if to clear it. "Right, I was— Yeah, I should probably get back to my sister. She's going to be intolerable if she doesn't get her cake soon." He indicates towards Morgana who's doing her very best to keep her laughter in.

"Right," Merlin says and follows Arthur's gesture. He stops up short when his eye lands on Morgana.

She raises her hand in a little wave, and lets her lips stretch into a huge grin.

"Wait," Merlin says, stunned. "Your sister is… Morgana?"

"Oh, you know her?"

"Well, she works for me."

Arthur turns his head to look back at Merlin, eyes wide in surprise. "Wait a minute, you're… her boss? As in her boss Merlin Emrys?"

"I am," Merlin says brightly and throws yet another disarming smile Arthur's way. "And I suppose you're her brother?"

Arthur introduces himself then, and Morgana doesn't know quite what happened or who invited whom, but suddenly she finds herself scooting over to make space for Merlin who's gotten his own coffee in the meantime.

"I can see you've met my boss," she says to Arthur as he sits down in front of her and slides the plate of cake over to her.

Arthur shrugs, grinning. "It appears so."

"And in such a… remarkable way, too," she says pointedly, smirking at Merlin who goes red again.

She laughs as he ducks his head and changes the subject by asking Arthur about what it is he does for a living. Arthur graciously takes up the mantle, and the conversation flows steadily from there, venturing from work to family to the latest movie and so on.

At some point, while Merlin is telling Arthur all about this thing that happened the other day, complete with animated gestures and sound effects, the coffee Morgana consumed earlier has made its way through her system and she has to excuse herself to go to the bathroom.

When she comes back, once she's close enough to see their expressions, she comes to an abrupt, stunned halt. Merlin is still talking, which is no surprise really, and Arthur is still listening which in itself isn't actually as big as wonder as she always teases him with, but it is the look on his face that makes Morgana do a double take. Because she knows that look, has seen it quite a few times but never as pronounced as now.

It's a look of warmth and intent, and there's a tiny, contented smile playing across his lips, as Arthur's eyes watch Merlin's vivid hand gestures. It is, she thinks, as she stands there in all her stunned epiphany, the kind of look the best friend of the protagonist in romantic books and films talks about whenever they say to the protagonist 'you should see the way they look at you.'

And Arthur is giving _Merlin_ that sort of look.

Morgana understands Arthur's immediate infatuation, of course. She spent the first few weeks working for Merlin having an inappropriate sort-of-celebrity crush on him, and she knows that quite a significant percentage of people feels drawn to Merlin's natural charm. But this? This is different.

This is as different as it could ever be.

And, she thinks as she glances at Merlin who's wearing one of his bright, dimpling smiles, it might actually work.

Because Arthur, the person she loves most in the entire world, only deserves the best of the best.

And Merlin…

Merlin is the best of the best.

It will always continue to amuse her how Merlin can be such a clumsy idiot on a daily basis while he's simultaneously one of the strongest people the magical community has ever known. He's such a genuinely nice person who'll just as soon laugh heartily with business associates as he will with the janitor, that it often surprises her how callous he can be when faced with an adversary. In the beginning, she couldn't quite figure out if the happy-go-lucky attitude is merely a façade and the ruthless negotiator is the real Merlin, but after a few months in his service, she came to understand that the callousness is an evil necessity in order for Merlin to protect those he cares about and those he's responsible for.

Arthur is very similar in that way, except he may be much more of a spoiled posh boy, who doesn't always know the correct way to act in a social situation. And he does come off as a bit of a prat from time to time, but once you really get to know him, he's not short on good qualities. In fact, there is no one Morgana loves more than her brother and no one she is more fiercely protective over. She loves her half-sister Morgause too, of course, but she hasn't known her for as long as she's known Arthur, whom she grew up with.

Morgause has been a wonderful help in assisting Morgana come to terms with her magical abilities along with helping her get settled into her new world, pulling some strings to get Morgana the job under Merlin. Being so new to magic and suddenly finding herself belonging to a community she'd been taught to hate, she wasn't the obvious choice for the position, hadn't even thought of applying, but Morgana, unlike most of the other applicants, has a degree in business along with the gift of Sight, as Morgause said. What company would not want her talents? Avalon Inc. certainly did.

Yet despite all Morgause has done for her, Arthur is still the one closest to her heart. He was there long before she even knew she had magic, when she woke up screaming in the night and the nannies and the housekeeper could do nothing to soothe her fear and it was only Arthur's warm embrace that would calm her down. He was there with her all throughout the countless appointments with different psychiatrists as they tried to find out just what was wrong with her, why she kept having those nightmares. And he was still there when they found out she was a Seer and their dad had a fit of outrage and denial and threats to disown her. Morgana, in turn, was there for Arthur when their dad had another fit of outrage and denial and threats to disown him when he came out as gay.

* * *

Not long after the meeting at the café, Morgana arranges to have lunch with Arthur during one of her workdays. They work in the same city, she reminds him over the phone while making the appointment, and it's ridiculous that they haven't thought of using their long lunch breaks to meet up. Then she mentions something about a nice place close to her office building so Arthur might as well meet her there. Arthur agrees, of course, and doesn't at all suspect that Morgana has ulterior motives.

She doesn't even feel bad at seeing his innocent smile as he knocks on the door into her office, opening it before she can say as much as a 'come in.' It is in his best interests after all. She returns his smile and packs up the stuff she'll need for lunch as slowly as she can to make sure they'll stumble into Merlin before they leave.

Merlin hasn't left his office yet when they pass by his secretary Elena, who appears to be in deep talks with Morgana's assistant Gwen, so Morgana makes sure to be caught up in their conversation too. She doesn't even know what they're talking about, but Morgana is brilliant at having an opinion about everything, or so she's been told.

Arthur sighs impatiently, crossing his arms and tapping his foot as he waits, and Morgana can just imagine the look on his face. Normally, it would annoy her that she has to resort to such stereotypical ways, but the house-sorting quiz on Pottermore didn't sort her into Slytherin for nothing.

Her tactic pays off when a few minutes later, just when Morgana knows Arthur is rolling his eyes for the tenth time, the door into Merlin's office opens and Merlin's voice says,

"Elena, I'm going out for lunch, do you— Oh, hey Arthur."

Morgana turns slightly so she can see the way Arthur straightens his back and his face is lit up by a bright smile.

"Hi Merlin," he says, subtly smoothing out his ever pristine suit. "Sorry to come by unannounced. I was supposed to have lunch with Morgana, but, you know—" he rolls his eyes in the direction of Morgana, Elena, and Gwen who are still hanging about Elena's desk while watching the exchange "—fast and Morgana is a combination that just doesn't happen."

Merlin laughs a bit. "Oh no, especially not when they all get talking like that. I have learned the hard way that it's best not to get involved in whatever topic they've decided on for the day. I mean, sure, I'm their boss, but it's not like anyone remembers that anyway. I might as well be a handsome coat hanger."

This time it's Arthur's turn to laugh and he launches into a tale of how the people working under him also have an unhealthy habit of disregarding his orders. Morgana, who's met all of Arthur's employees, knows that they all love him to death, but doesn't intervene because before she knows it Merlin and Arthur are engaged in conversation, and that was sort of her plan to begin with.

Elena and Gwen watch them both, bemused, looking from Merlin's laughter to Arthur's warm, teasing smile and back again. Then they throw their questioning looks to Morgana who smirks in response.

Elena gestures with a pen between Merlin and Arthur, arching an eyebrow.

Morgana waggles her eyebrows, her smirk widening pointedly.

Elena's and Gwen's eyes widen comically, and they look back to watch Merlin and Arthur, who both appear to have completely forgotten the world around them. They turn back to Morgana, both nodding with approving miens. Morgana's smirk turns into an excited grin at that. One she quickly hides in case Merlin or Arthur should catch it. Which, judging from the way they're already completely caught up in each other, is not all that likely.

She's content to let Merlin and Arthur continue their conversation, but she does need food at some point and eventually suggests that Merlin join her and Arthur for lunch. That had been her plan all along, of course, but she doesn't refrain from throwing in a scathing remark about how Arthur really shouldn't throw stones when he obviously lives in a house of glass.

Merlin accepts the invitation before Arthur can start an argument and as they exit the office, Merlin and Arthur back to talking, Morgana sends a wink over her shoulder to Gwen and Elena and receives enthusiastic thumbs-ups in return.

The lunch goes as splendidly as Morgana planned it. In fact, it goes so well they completely forget the time and it's not before Arthur's secretary calls to hear what's taking him so long and doesn't he remember that he has a meeting, that they remember they don't have unlimited time. Arthur excuses himself with a red, embarrassed face and a laugh and then he's out the door hailing a taxi to get back to his office.

"You know," Merlin says, almost as an afterthought. "I really like your brother. He seems like a great bloke. I think you should invite him around more often."

Morgana agrees, fighting to keep the smugness off her face, and applauds herself on a brilliant set-up.

* * *

Arthur too thinks it was good fun, and it soon enough becomes more than a weekly occurrence that they take their lunch together whenever their schedule is free. And if Morgana has made a deal with Elena to cut away any other probable lunch meetings with other 'less' important people, Merlin is none the wiser.

For a time, the lunches along with a few spontaneous visits to the café where they first met are enough; Arthur and Merlin need to get to know each other properly before any romantic overtures can be made from either of them. But eventually she makes plans with Gwen one day to remind her of a "very important" meeting she's forgotten all about, and she's so sorry, but she has to be somewhere, and Arthur and Merlin should just have lunch without her. She kind of feels a bit like she's taken on the role of a chaperone making sure courting between two intended is proceeding accordingly, with Gwen and Elena as her faithful helpers.

She always makes sure Merlin and Arthur are sitting in front of each other so they can gaze soulfully into each other's eyes, or so Morgana wants them to. Eye contact is the key, she's heard somewhere, and even if it might be from some women's magazine, she sees the truth in it. Especially when she's sitting beside Merlin and can freely see the warm, soft looks Arthur reserves for Merlin and Merlin alone. It makes her have to fight extremely hard to suppress a squeal, and whenever Gwen and Elena have joined them for lunch they all three have to go to the bathroom at the same time just to get it out of their system.

One time there's a new movie out that both Merlin and Arthur mention wanting to see to Morgana at two separate times. It's the perfect matchmaking opportunity, she agrees with Gwen and Elena over the phone, and so she suggests to Merlin that they all go see it, and oh can she invite Arthur too? To Arthur she mentions they're going to see it with work, but since he hangs about them all the time anyway he's more than welcome to join them. She may also insert a remark about how he has no friends, to which Arthur merely raises an eyebrow and asks her if she's got any friends who are not also colleagues. They leave the argument at that.

At the cinema, Morgana, Gwen, and Elena shuffle the tickets around so that Merlin and Arthur end up sitting beside each other, with Morgana on Merlin's other side so she'll be able to keep an eye on them while she pretends to be immersed in the movie. In the dark, Arthur might get his wits about him and finally do _something_ , and Morgana wants to know if it happens.

Nothing does, unfortunately, not even a bit of handholding, but then again, it is a great movie. She supposes they'll just have to see a bad one the next time, and by the end, when the credits are rolling over the screen, she suggests doing it again.

She meets no opposition, and cinema trips join lunches and afternoon at the café as part of the complicated courting process of Arthur and Merlin.

* * *

One day, to Morgana's abject horror Arthur brings a business associate of his called Mithian to lunch. And if it was only that one lunch, then Morgana would let it go, but suddenly Arthur decides that Mithian is also welcome with them when they go to the café and the cinema, and that simply won't do.

Mithian is nice enough, of course; she's clever, smart, and says all the right things at the right times. Morgana would like her better if she wasn't spending so much time ogling Merlin, or smiling at him in a way that makes Morgana want to vomit. Naturally, Mithian smiles at Arthur too, but that's more of the friendly kind.

It doesn't change the fact that Morgana abhors Mithian's presence. She has no business fluttering her eyelashes at Merlin like that, none at all, and the fact that Arthur decided bringing her in the first place was a good idea grates on her nerves. She does realise that business from Arthur's point of view is more relevant than Morgana's schemes, but he doesn't always know what's best for him. Which is why it's just his luck that he has a wonderful sister who does.

And Merlin is obviously what's best for him, she's already established that. Someone might argue that Arthur needs more friends, hell, that someone might even be Morgana, but as long as Mithian is Arthur's unrecognised love rival, she cannot stay.

Morgana plans to have a very uncomfortable but necessary conversation with Arthur at some point.

Except she doesn't even get that far as Mithian forces Morgana to completely reevaluate her opinion of her one evening when they are all going to see a new movie and Arthur has once again invited Mithian along.

Morgana – as always – is in charge of buying the tickets, so Merlin volunteers to go get popcorn and snacks. Arthur goes with him, giving some excuse about helping carry the soda, but he's utterly transparent and not very subtle about his actual intentions. No one calls him out on it, though.

Morgana can see Merlin smiling at Arthur as he joins Merlin in the little candy shop, saying something Morgana can't hear. Arthur gives Merlin that soft, warm look, saying something in return that makes Merlin's smile widen, and he places a hand on Arthur's arm, seemingly unintentionally.

"Fuck," Mithian says at that, as if talking to herself. "I ship it." Then, remembering where she is and just who is with her, she freezes, hand shooting to her mouth as if she can somehow take her words back that way.

Elena lets out a laugh while Morgana and Gwen are left to stare at Mithian in shock.

"Don't worry," Elena says and puts a reassuring hand on Mithian's shoulder. "We all do. Ship them, I mean. Morgana's been trying to set them up for ages, but so far she's been without luck."

"Oh thank god," Mithian says on a relieved sigh. "I thought I was a bit creepy going around shipping my business associate with this other guy I hadn't even met. But it was just really hard not to considering the look Arthur gets on his face when he talks about Merlin."

"We know," Gwen says. "It's _that_ sort of look, isn't it?"

"It is," Mithian agrees and admits she kind of invited herself to lunch the first time because she was curious to see in person whom it was Arthur is so infatuated with, and she's actually kind of sorry to intrude on their social circle, but Merlin and Arthur are seriously so cute she just can't help it.

They all tell her not to worry, that it's completely alright, and if she wants to join them another time, she's more than welcome.

And that's how Morgana finds a new ally in Mithian. And a new boost of confidence that Arthur and Merlin really are meant for each other if total strangers can see it. Now all she has to do is wait for them to figure it out themselves.

And so she waits.

And waits.

And waits until enough time has passed for her to acknowledge that Arthur at least should have made an advance towards more by now. Except he hasn't.

Morgana even steals his phone to check for any interesting messages from Merlin. Yes, she knows she's overstepping her boundaries but at this point she's beginning to get frustrated. She tells herself it's okay if she only looks at the messages from Merlin. Obviously, she's lying to herself and feels the guilt sitting heavily in her stomach for the rest of the week. They don't even reveal anything, so either they keep everything strictly to calls or they still haven't found out they're meant to be.

But then Avalon Inc.'s annual Yule party is coming up and all employees will be allowed to bring a plus-one. Elena and Gwen will be bringing their respective beaus, Merlin will be bringing his mum, while Morgana will be bringing Arthur. And, some lucky guy down in accounting will have the pleasure of bringing Mithian. She absolutely insisted on being allowed to attend when she heard Arthur was also going, and Morgana appreciates her fellow matchmaker enough to pull some strings.

"I think Merlin's going to look positively edible tonight," Morgana says while she's applying makeup in her flat and Arthur is sitting on the toilet seat waiting for her to hurry the fuck up because they're already late.

He thinks his presence is an invasive stress factor for her so she'll be quicker, but he's clearly underestimating her determination to look her best. There are bound to be handsome employees from other departments around and on top of that, she's planning on this being the night Arthur and Merlin will finally have their extremely romantic first kiss.

"Come on, Morgana," Arthur says, irritated. "Merlin looks at you on a daily basis, and he doesn't seem like the type to care whether or not someone has their face full of makeup."

Morgana snorts. "I don't actually care about what Merlin thinks of my face." She applies some more mascara just to annoy Arthur. "But there will be other males present tonight and I—"

"You're just going to snog some random bloke in Merlin's face?" Arthur says, and his voice sounds off somehow, harsher than usual.

"Well, it's not going to be in his face obviously. I do have some manners. It's going to be in a dark corner of some sort." After Merlin and Arthur have had their own romantic moment, of course. Then she can celebrate properly.

"I always knew you were a cold-hearted one, but really? Do you have to break his heart so blatantly? What happened to letting people down gently?"

Morgana turns around to stare at Arthur as a horrible, horrible thought settles into her at his words. "Arthur," she says, hesitates, then continues. "Merlin doesn't like me. Not the way you're suggesting, at least."

"Of course he does," Arthur states. "The way he looks at you, a blind man would be able to see it." He sounds sullen, angry, and Morgana knows her brother well enough to detect the jealousy easily.

"No, Arthur," she says firmly, enunciating each word clearly as if she's speaking to a stubborn child. "Merlin does _not_ like me. So you have nothing to be jealous over."

"Jealous?" Arthur's voice reaches a borderline hysterical level at that. "I am _not_ jealous!"

"Of course you are!" Morgana throws back, frustrated. "You say Merlin looks at me a certain way, but it's actually _you_ looking at Merlin in _that_ way!"

" _What_ way?!"

"You know, the 'you should see the way he looks at you'-way."

"I am _not_ looking at him in that way."

"Yes. You. Are! And I really don't understand why you haven't done anything about it yet! Stop being a bloody coward and do _something_!"

They are both almost yelling at that point, and unfortunately, Arthur is as stubborn as Morgana herself and their dad, and he absolutely refuses to listen to reason. Which means it's up to Morgana to sort this misunderstanding out. Of course it is. But perhaps it's time for the direct approach.

When they arrive at the Yule party, Morgana immediately ditches Arthur to go find Elena, Gwen, and Mithian so she can explain how the situation has evolved unexpectedly, and make some sort of battle plan. Then she goes to find Merlin.

She finds him quite easily, which isn't a shock considering he's department head and people naturally flock to him anyway. He's talking to some colleagues who, once they see Morgana approaching with a determined look on her face, get the hint and excuse themselves.

"Hi Merlin," she says, as nonchalant as possible. "Good evening?"

"Certainly," he answers and is about to launch into some story she has no interest in hearing, so she cuts him off.

"Arthur likes you, you know," she states. There, simple and easy.

"Oh," Merlin says with a goofy smile. "That's good, because I think he's really nice too. A bit of a prat sometimes, but nice enough nonetheless."

Morgana barely refrains from rolling her eyes. Perhaps not that easy, then. How frustrating. "No, Merlin," she says carefully. "Arthur _like_ likes you. Like he'd want very much to kiss you if he could, but he thinks you like me, so he won't do anything about it!"

Merlin frowns. "Well, that's stupid. I'm not the least bit interested in you, and you're definitely not interested in me." He pauses, his frown deepening. "Wait… you said that Arthur… that he likes me? As in… romantically likes me?"

This time Morgana does roll her eyes. "Yes. But he won't do anything about it. So… I'm here trying to tell you that I'm really tired of trying to get you two to hook up, and this is really rather a beautiful night for you to take action. And since Arthur is too stupid and too noble for his own good, you're going to have to be the one who pulls his head out of his arse first."

Merlin laughs even as he flushes from ear to ear. "I am actually your boss, you remember that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. In a little while you'll hopefully be something closer to brother-in-law, but only if you do something," Morgana says, beyond exasperated by now.

"Okay," Merlin says simply. "Okay," he repeats. "I mean— well, I thought he wasn't interested so I wouldn't say anything but if you're absolutely sure—"

"I am absolutely sure! So please go do something terribly romantic so that I may be able to finally rest in peace, and get on with my own love life."

"Okay, okay," Merlin says, raising his hands as if to ward off any further comments. "I'm on my way." He makes a point out of placing his glass on a nearby table and giving Morgana a pointed look before he leaves.

Finally! Morgana thinks to herself. Then she goes to find Elena, Gwen, and Mithian again to let them know Merlin is on the move. Hopefully, Mithian has already gotten Arthur to the rendezvous point, and now all they have to do is wait for Merlin to set Arthur straight.

* * *

Arthur will have to admit that magic certainly has its advantages. That café, for instance, which Morgana is so fond of and where he first met Merlin, is a great example on how it can enhance the small things in life. Another example is the balcony he's currently standing on. It's in the middle of winter, the sky is clear which means it should be below freezing, yet Arthur is not feeling the cold as there's a layer of magic shielding the balcony from the weather beyond it. He's grateful Mithian showed it to him earlier, sensing he didn't want to be in the midst of things, and left him there to be alone with his own complicated thoughts. He's glad he can count her among his friends.

Arthur has never really seen himself as the type to pine from afar. All his other relationships – long or short – have been pretty straightforward. He's always stated his intentions early to avoid any unnecessary confusion, yet there is just something about the way Merlin smiles that give Arthur cause to pause. There's just something so… well Arthur really can't put a finger on it, but there's just something about Merlin that makes Arthur insecure. The fact that's he's a powerful warlock and Morgana's boss doesn't make it any better. Then again, since Merlin is clearly interested in Morgana it doesn't really matter anyway. Arthur will just continue to pine until the feelings go away. It may hurt that he's going to see Morgana and Merlin happy once they sort themselves out, but he supposes that that, too, will eventually fade.

At least, he'd resigned himself to that. And then it turned out that Morgana didn't even know Merlin has feelings for her, which only makes everything turn into a weird Shakespearean love-triangle that doesn't seem to want to have a solution. Arthur doesn't really know how to deal with that, and the last place he currently wants to be is at a party where all involved parties are in attendance. Which is why he's escaped out here.

A door opens behind him, and somehow he isn't surprised to see Merlin when he turns around. Right, just what he needs. His treacherous heart speeds up at Merlin's lovely smile and he wants to punch himself in the chest to make it stop.

"Hi," Arthur says and turns back to lean over the railing in order to avoid looking Merlin in the eyes. He's torn between wanting Merlin to go away and wanting him to stay, just to be in his company.

"Hi," Merlin says and comes to stand beside Arthur, mirroring his position.

"Come to get some fresh air?" Arthur asks casually, nodding towards the view of the city where the usual winter weather is still in function.

"Not really, no," Merlin says, and there's something expectant over him.

Arthur can feel his gaze on him, but doesn't turn to look, afraid of what he might see.

"Oh?" Arthur prompts. "Then what are—"

"Morgana says you like me," Merlin says rather bluntly with all the conviction of someone who's not afraid to lose face.

Arthur admires that part of him at the same time he in that moment hates Morgana beyond compare. Now she's fucked up everything even more, and Arthur kisses every hope he had of simply remaining Merlin's friend goodbye.

Merlin continues, unaffected by Arthur's lack of response, "She also said that the reason you haven't done anything about it is because you think I'm interested in her, which I'm not by the way, so I came out here to clear up this misunderstanding."

"I—" Arthur doesn't even know what to respond to that. "Uhm— Well." That was not what he'd expected Merlin to say. At all. And now he's left wrong-footed, on unfamiliar ground. As usual when dealing with Merlin.

Merlin laughs, but it's not the mean kind; it's the endearing kind that Arthur loves. "You're really rather cute when you're flustered, you know that, right?"

"No, I—" Arthur gets out before he's stopped by Merlin's hand finding Arthur's fingers, letting his own find the spaces between to let them intertwine. Arthur cannot do anything but look down at them, marvelling at the heat and the fact that Merlin is touching him.

"I really think you should just shut up and kiss me now, since you seem unable to form a coherent answer anyway," Merlin says, cheeks dimpling.

Arthur does.

* * *

Morgana might be content that Merlin's decided to finally do something, but it doesn't mean she's giving up supervising. At this point, she's learned that those two idiots really can't be trusted with looking out for themselves, so she, along with Gwen, Elena, and Mithian, has silently pushed the door out to the balcony ajar in order to see what they're doing, if damage control is needed.

Fortunately, it isn't, and Morgana barely suppresses a squeal as Merlin and Arthur finally kiss.

Mithian, however, doesn't.

Merlin, without breaking the rather romantic kiss he's sharing with Arthur, lifts his hand and with an unspoken spell sends them all flying back into the room. The door closes too, and the lock slides into place.

Still, Morgana cannot stop grinning. And if Merlin and Arthur wants to be able to kiss in peace, she's going to let them. It seems things have finally fallen into place.

Now, about finding her own conquest...

* * *

 **Contrustructive criticism is always appreciated! As are reviews.**

 **You can also find my on tumblr and livejournal under the name elveatas. Links are in my profile**


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